


dawn on me

by Super_Trouper



Series: Wayhaven Week 2020 [1]
Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: Brooding, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Pining, also this takes place during book 1 but seeds for the F bff route are planted, you know just A things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:47:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26320651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Super_Trouper/pseuds/Super_Trouper
Summary: Adam doesn’t waste time thinking of the human. She grows on him anyway.Written for Day 1 of Wayhaven Week on Tumblr. Prompt: Dawn.
Relationships: Female Detective/Adam du Mortain
Series: Wayhaven Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1912510
Kudos: 12





	dawn on me

**Author's Note:**

> I already posted this on my tumblr during the actual week, but I figured I might as well post it here too. Basically I'm trying to segway into eventually posting all my Wayhaven fanfiction after just hoarding it in my drafts for ages so... we'll see how that goes.
> 
> Disclaimer: I've used some dialogue from Book 1 that I've put in italics to help differentiate it from my own writing.

Adam doesn’t waste time thinking of the human; there is no point in getting to know her or whatever other nonsense Nate seems to be pushing for, not when their job is simply to protect her and ensure that she stays alive. He certainly pays no mind to her loud laugh and her brash attitude, no matter how oddly compelling a part of him seems to find them.

“Hey. Hey, Felix.” Even her whispers are loud enough that he would still be able to hear them without his enhanced hearing and Adam has to stifle a sigh. “Where did the king put his armies?”

Felix’s eyebrows are furrowed as he blinks in confusion, a feeling that Adam must admit he shares. As far as he’s aware, kings have no relation to Murphy and they certainly have not come up in conversation; the way the detective’s mind works is most strange, but this isn’t news to him.

  
“Which king? Because I remember you humans-- you  people have had a lot of those,” Felix grins at her while Adam feels his muscles tighten. Yet once again, Felix seems to have slipped up and at this point, they’re lucky humans don’t believe in the supernatural.

But the detective only seems to wave him off, fortunately, and Adam forces himself to relax; he’ll have the chance to have a nice, long talk with Felix later about what is okay to say in front of her and what is most certainly not.

“No, no, it doesn’t matter which one,” she’s explaining in the meantime and she seems to have foregone all attempts at keeping her voice down. “Okay, let’s do that again, but this time just ask where. Okay? Okay. So. Where did the king put his armies?”

“Where?”

  
“In his sleevies!”

For a moment, a blissful quiet reigns over the room before Mason’s loud groan breaks it as it seems to reverberate off the walls of the detective’s tiny office and Adam finds himself inclined to agree. What a ridiculous attempt at humour. There is no need at all for Felix’s loud guffaws nor for Nate’s poorly disguised chuckles and Adam once again fights the urge to sigh. (Unfathomably, he also has to fight the slight upward tug of his lips, though this isn’t something he would ever admit.)

“Oh, detective, that was great!” Felix manages in between huffs of laughter. “Please tell me you have more.”

“Well!” The audible excitement in the human’s voice makes something flutter in Adam’s chest (annoyance, he tells himself) and he finally speaks up.

“I doubt the killer will find your jokes as funny, detective.”

The effect of his words is instantaneous as the detective snaps her mouth shut and shifts around to meet his eyes. And while he’s fully aware many are intimidated by his gaze, the detective seems to meet it with no hesitation whatsoever, much like she’d done during their first meeting a few days ago. How… bizarre.

“At the pace we’re going, I’m pretty sure I’ll actually die of old age before we find them so I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” she quips and Adam isn’t sure if he’s more annoyed by her blatant lack of concern for her own well-being or by how frighteningly accurate her joke is, considering humans’ fragile lives.

“Then perhaps you ought to focus your efforts on your job instead of making jokes.”

“ Perhaps I can multitask. It’s a useful skill, you should look into it.”

Adam frowns at her, already frustrated with her witticisms, and can’t help but reflect on how such a tiny human can make him feel this strongly by doing so little. Such a train of thought is dangerous, however, and he quickly forces it away.

“Maybe now would be a good time to take a break,” Nate steps in, arms raised placatingly as he smiles at the human. “Are you hungry, detective? Perhaps we could grab lunch together.”

It takes a moment for her gaze to finally move away from Adam but eventually it does and he sees some of the tension leave her body with the action. Irrationally, he wonders if he awakens any such strong feelings in her as well.

“Oh, uh, yeah.” She shakes her head as if shaking  _ him _ off and for some reason, the thought brings another frown to his face -- but then the human beams up at Nate and Adam can’t find it in himself to maintain it. “I could definitely eat! Man, come to think of it I’m starving, actually.”

“I wanna come too,” Felix chimes in immediately, a familiar grin in place. “I promise to appreciate your jokes more than Adam does, detective.”

The human lets out a loud laugh at that, a truly horrifying abomination of a sound somewhere between a snort and a cackle, but somehow, it still makes Adam’s chest feel lighter. Felix’s amber eyes dart to him, much too perceptive and knowing, and he makes sure to wipe his face clear of any emotion.

“Then again, maybe Adam appreciates your jokes more than we realise,” Felix says and the detective’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. Once again, Nate is quick to step in.

“Mason? Adam? Would you two like to join us?”

The question is purely for appearances’ sake, of course; they don’t require human food and, in Mason’s case, they’re better off without it. Thankfully, though, his general attitude means the detective needs no further explanation as he just huffs a “Hell no,” through a puff of smoke.

Then the detective’s eyes shift to Adam once again, only this time he makes sure to avoid them, instead turning to address Nate. “I would prefer to keep working, but you three go ahead. And make sure to keep an eye out.”

Nate and Felix understand his message and give subtle nods before heading out with the detective who Adam can still hear complain about his ‘stuck-up self’ even as she disappears out of sight.

He lets out a quiet sigh that he would vehemently deny is relief.

“What’s got you so worked up about her?” Mason asks casually, unaware of the severity of his question, and Adam stiffens.

“I assure you, I am in no way  _ worked up  _ over the detective.” He doesn’t intend to add anything else, but the words spill out before he can help it. “I merely find her… confusing.”

Mason arches a brow but says nothing and Adam is grateful.

* * *

_ “We’ll catch him. He won’t get the chance to hurt you.”  _

He stares into Catherine’s eyes, so familiar and yet so strange all the same. They crinkle as she grins up at him, breaking some of the tension between them.

_ “With Unit Bravo on the case, how can I doubt it?” _

_ “You would make light of this?” _

She shrugs and the gesture draws his gaze to the tiny droplets of water on her bare shoulders for a brief moment before he forces himself to look away.  _ “Well, I didn’t want the moment to be completely dour. You’ve got to lighten it up sometimes.” _

And that is something he has come to learn about Catherine in the short time they’ve been together -- she’s got this… light about her, something about her very presence that draws him in like a moth to a flame, and by god, does that scare him. 

_ “I’ve enjoyed learning your quirks,” _ he says without thinking. Then he follows that draw and lets himself lean closer to her, only for a moment. It dawns on him, just then, that fear or not, he would not have it any other way. He doesn’t have the strength to resist this new feeling, conflicting as it might be, and the thought that Murphy might take it away from him… It’s unbearable. _ “I won’t let Murphy destroy who you are.” _

It’s a promise he fully intends to keep, as much for her sake as for his.


End file.
